Conservative Judaism: The New Century

Plot

A dynamic account of the creation and evolution of the Conservative movement over the last 100 years. The concerns, changes, and achievements of Conservative belief and practice since the turn of the century, and how the movement is confronting today's most challenging issues, including: The role of women in the synagogue Homosexuality Patrilineal descent The State of Israel Historical and contemporary photographs illustrate the growth of the movement.

This book answers every question you wanted to know about how Conservative Judaism developed, what its theological and legal principles are, and how it differs from the other Jewish movements (Reform, Orthodox and Reconstructionist). More importantly, it starts off with a summary of how all how the Jewish movements we know today developed. Many readers will be surprised to learn that Orthodox Judaism isn't the oldest movement - Reform Judaism is! Reform Judaism developed in the early 1800s in reaction to the Enlightment movement and Emancipation. Due to the radical positions taken by its founders, a reaction took place in the rest of the Jewish community. One reaction led to Samson Rapahel Hirsch developing Neo-Orthodoxy, the progenitor of Modern Orthodox Judaism. Another led to Agudah Yisrael and Haredism (Ultra-Orthodox). And most importantly (for this reader), the next step was the most vital. In response to the extremes taken by both the Reformers and Orthodox, Positive-Historical Judaism was then developed by Zechariah Frankel (Germany). This was the progentor of Conservative Judaism. Indeed, the Conservative movement is still sometimes called the Positive-Historical school of Judaism. This book is written by an insider, a professor of philosophy at the movement's primary seminary, and it is surprisingly frank and objective. The movements inherent tensions, strengths and weaknesses are all analyzed and discussed. Issues such as Zionism, women as rabbis, homosexuality, and the observance of the laity are discussed in an open fashion. For those who enjoy this book, or are interested in Conservative Judaism, I would also strongly suggest these two books: "A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice" by Rabbi Issac Klein, and, "Conservative Judaism: Our ancestors to our descendents", published by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), by Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff